Wicked Problems, One Health and the Risks of Federal Data Loss

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Nathan Myers
June 9, 2025

While the funding, personnel and operations of the federal government have undergone significant changes since the inauguration of the second Trump administration, we continue to be faced by the same wicked problems. Among these problems are those that could be categorized as One Health issues, as they involve animal health, human health and the environment. The reduction in the federal government’s collection and dissemination of data is further complicating appropriate policy responses to such issues.

For example, the Trump administration budget threatens cuts to numerous agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the agencies it oversees, including the National Weather Service. The budget proposed by the administration would cut NOAA’s budget by 24 percent, including a 74 percent cut to the Office of Oceanic Research. This is on top of previously cutting 800 employees from NOAA.

Such cuts present many implications for the daily lives of American citizens, from knowing whether to plant crops to knowing when to seek protection from a potentially deadly storm moving into an area. However, in a broader sense the Trump budget cuts to services like NOAA present a danger to problem definition, policy analysis and accountability in regard to One Health issues such as the spread of infectious disease.

As reported in Michael Lewis’ book The Fifth Risk, NOAA collects double the amount of data contained in all the books contained in the Library of Congress collection. The organization has collected climate and weather data going back to the days of Thomas Jefferson. This data is essential to the U.S. transportation industry, the building of infrastructure, for national defense and for public health.  

Government data and the reporting of that data by the media has often served as a signal to the public regarding the presence of a problem of national interest. If federal agencies are no longer collecting and disseminating data on subjects including climate, weather and their implications for agriculture, transportation and public health, the public will be less aware of emerging threats and therefore not in a position to act to encourage their elected representatives to take action. As noted by Eugene Bardach in book A Practical Guide to Policy Analysis, part of problem definition is quantifying the problem. For example, it is difficult to understand the full implications of how changes in climate are affecting the prevalence of certain types of infectious diseases in the United States without good historical data.   

This absence of data will severely hinder the practice of policy analysis, involving the construction of alternative solutions to policy problems and evaluating their merits. How can we prioritize research in regard to changes in climate affecting the prevalence of infectious disease compared to other research areas? What can or should we do about other types of public health risks presented by extreme heat or extreme cold? Or lack of adequate nutrition due to changes in climate and weather patterns affecting food production? Balancing these priorities and evaluating the degree to which policies to address them will produce public value for the American people depends on good data. But if this data is no longer collected by public organizations like NOAA and used for the good of all Americans, not only will Americans receive inequitable protection from weather-related events and infectious disease, but the government’s ability to make evidence-based decisions will be severely hampered.

Just as troubling is the erosion of accountability that will come from the lack of federal data. If data related to national challenges we face are not tracked, how are we supposed to know if agencies are setting appropriate policy goals, let alone meeting those goals? NOAA and the National Weather Service are often evaluated based on their ability to provide early warnings to the American people about pending storms and other weather activity that can hinder vital economic activity. In a broader sense, NOAA is also responsible for providing data to help communities build up resilience to longer-term threats presented by climate change. This includes helping to anticipate when certain types of infectious diseases will become a greater risk to the American public.

The Zika virus is a notable example of this, as it is believed that the virus has become a greater threat to the U.S. due to higher levels of heat leading to Aedes aegypti mosquitoes traveling farther north.  However, if the government no longer takes responsibility for collecting and disseminating this data, it diminishes the public’s ability to evaluate how well it is performing key public health functions to prevent outbreaks.  

Diminishing the government’s focus on wicked problems like the connection between climate and infectious disease will not diminish the effect of these problems on the American people. Scholars, students and practitioners must do whatever they can to advocate for agencies on the frontlines of addressing such problems, and educate the public on the importance of the information these federal agencies collect to policy protecting the American people. Otherwise all we will be left to do is quantify the costs of cuts to organizations like NOAA in lives and economic productivity and holding politicians accountable for the damage that will be done.    

---

Author: Nathan Myers, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Master of Public Administration at Indiana State University. His areas of research include public policy, public health emergency preparedness, and the governance of biotechnology. He is the author of Pandemics and Polarization: Implications of Partisan Budgeting for Responding to Public Health Emergencies and numerous related articles. Myers is a graduate of Knox College (BA), University of Illinois at Springfield (MPA), and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Ph.D.) Email: [email protected]; Blue Sky: @nagremy1980.bsky.social

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...